The Power of a Zing
by Bigj200016
Summary: This is a rewrite of my Alternate Ending to HT. Jonathan and Mavis realizes exactly how powerful that a Zing is. It guides everything that we do, and sometimes all it needs is a little guidance.
1. What Was I Thinking?

**Author's Note:** What's up guys. This is begins a rewrite of my alternate ending to HT, replacing the final twenty minutes or so of the movie. It picks up following the scene on the roof where Mavis tells Dracula that she thinks she had Zinged with Jonathan following his rejection of her. The alternate ending will be deleted in the future, since this will completely replace it, but the story will follow largely the same path. The other thing, is that this one will be written from more of a first person perspective than any of my other stories. I'm so used to writing history papers (I graduated from Purdue University with a BA in History) that it just was difficult for me to write in first person. Any feedback on ways that I can improve on this is appreciated, or any other reviews as well.

Even though these characters will not appear in this story, some of Jonathan's family will be mentioned in this one. Jonathan's parents, Mike and Linda, his brothers, Brett is the oldest, and Kent is older than Jonathan, and finally his sister Jenna.

* * *

Chapter 1

What Was I Thinking

(Jonathan's POV)

I had been sitting on the bed in my room for the last 4 hours, and couldn't stop myself from crying. Tonight had been the best night of my life, and at the same time the worse. Fate has this weird way of being cruel, especially when young fools are in love. During this trip, I got to explore a creepy old castle's ruins that led me to the hotel which, oddly enough, was also a creepy old castle.

I got to meet the legendary Count Dracula, himself and all of his friends. I smiled as I thought of how cool all of the other monsters were. Frank was a riot, while Wayne had a dry, but awesome sense of humor. I guess that having almost a hundred kids can do that to you. God knows that my Uncle Mitch told me that my dad had been a lot of fun before my oldest brother, Brett, became a teenager. Maybe it was just a midlife crisis, or Wayne didn't have any energy left after chasing his kids around all night.

Griffin was an absolute hoot. He was always playing pranks on all of the monsters. Hell, I was no slouch myself, but someone who's invisible has the ultimate advantage when it came to pranking.

And then there was Murray. The mummy thought that he was the ultimate 'ladies' man', but a lot like the old SNL character, he always found new ways to fail, and they were normally epic.

This left the ladies; Eunice, is a lot like my aunt. She's nice, but man is her voice annoying. I mean like nails on a chalkboard annoying.

Wanda, Wayne's wife, reminded me a lot of my own mother. She was warm and kind, but could be a little scatterbrained at times. The one thing I did like about her, was unlike my mom, she wasn't as big of a ditz as mom. I smiled even wider at the thought of my mom and Wanda meeting, but I knew that I would never happen.

It would never happen because I had done the stupidest thing I ever could have. Dracula had hidden the fact that I was a human from all of his friends for the past three nights, so they all thought of me as just another monster; Johnny Stein, a distant cousin of Frank's right arm. I still don't know how we were able to pull the charade off for that long, but I should have known that it wouldn't had lasted forever. Why didn't Dracula just kick me out earlier? Why didn't I leave when I had the chance after the 'chicken fights'? That's when the smile on my face vanished; I knew why, and it was all because of her.

I had a special feeling about Mavis when I first met her, but I never thought it would get any deeper than any of my other friends who were girls. I mean, there was **NO WAY** it could have ever gotten any deeper than that. We were just too different. She's a vampire, and I'm human. It couldn't work. Yeah, I know, _Twilight_. My sister loves all of those books and movies, but the vampire kid almost killed Bella when she was human. But maybe I was missing something.

I had talked to Jenna the first night when I got here. When I told her that I was in Transylvania, she had joked that I might find Dracula. I couldn't tell her that I already did, and that he had a daughter that I was absolutely smitten with. Yeah, I know; 'smitten' is a really old school word, but I just don't know any better way to say how I felt when I first met Mavis. Jenna told me that she had just finished the latest book in the _Twilight_ series, and almost gave me a complete book report on _Breaking Dawn_. I didn't care, hell the last book I read was during the only semester of college I went to. That had been a mistake; I didn't belong in college. I wanted to travel the world. I hated where I grew up. Living on the coast may sound cool, but Santa Cruz was one of those cities that if you had no interest in working in technology, then you need to get the blank out of there. Don't get me wrong; I love to surf, but all of the tourists keep invading the area during the summer. Even all of the 'local's' spots were starting to get invaded. And that was kind of the last straw.

When I told my dad that I wanted to drop out of college and explore the world, at first he was against it. He thought that if I wanted to see the world, then I should join the military. That wasn't gonna happen. Could you picture me in boot camp? Just no way! Mom surprised me for the first time in my life. She was on my side on this one. Jenna had known the real reason though. My mom had hoped that it was just a phase, and it would end soon. I found out that she had told my dad that after a few months away, I would be begging to come back and would "shape up and fly right" as she always liked to put it. But the more I explored, the more that I realized why I was drawn away from Santa Cruz. The last thing my mom told me before I left on my first trip to London was, "Just remember you can always come home. I know what you're going through better than you think. There's two reasons you go through a phase like this; either you don't know what you have here, or you're looking for someone or someplace to settle down. Just remember to follow your heart, because it knows better than you head what you should do."

Yeah, a lot of good following that advice got me. I came home for a few weeks to reset my travel plans, and what did it get me. I won this travel magazine's contest, and got an all-expenses paid trip to Romania. There was this recently renovated castle's ruins that they wanted to send someone to for a review of it. That's when I felt something almost dragging me here. Don't get me wrong, I love the hotel. It's just so cool with all of the monsters that are real, even though I did totally freak out when I first realized that. But would they have been so cool to me if they knew I was a human? Mavis showed me this slideshow that Dracula had produced showing really silly people. Apparently Dracula had been trying to tell his friends for a while that humans still hunted monsters, and bit the toes of monsters and worse. I did have to admit to Mavis about piñatas. There was a grain of truth to what Dracula told his friends about filling their heads with candy, but they weren't really the heads of monsters. Mavis smiled when I showed her a video of my six year old cousin's last birthday with a Superman piñata. But other than that one example, everything he told the monsters was completely wrong. And even that only had a small sliver of truth.

I still hadn't shown them the second thing that the travel magazine wanted me to review for them; that being the annual Transylvania Monster Festival in Brasov. I figured it would be like ComicCon, and should be good for a few laughs. But why was I led here?

When I got to the Ruins of Lubov, I felt this presence. It was like super powerful, but it didn't feel like a ghost. Rather, it felt almost loving. That's what led me here. I kept hearing a woman's voice telling me that I'd find my destiny here. What I found was great, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't ready to meet Mavis. She was the most perfect girl I'd ever met in my life. I'd had girlfriends in the past, but it never got anywhere near like what I felt around her. Mavis was the only girl I wanted, but like I said earlier, we were just too different. I couldn't promise her anything long term. I mean, she was 118, and here I am only 21. He dad looked to be only slightly older than my dad, but he was 562. How could I promise her anything? But why did something keep bringing me back to _Twilight_ , but more importantly something kept making me think of what my mom always said, 'If we remember the why, the how will take care of itself'. Mavis was a really good why. Maybe it was possible to me to become a vampire too, but I wasn't ready to give up all the awesome things about being human. Boy, if Jenna could only know I was living out my very own version of _Twilight_ , she'd freak.

Something pulled me out of my thoughts. After I made possibly the dumbest mistake of my life, and told Mavis that I hated monsters (Yeah, I know. Major WTF were you thinking moment), and she stormed out of the room even after knowing that I was human and saying she still loved me, all I wanted to do was leave ASAP. But the next flight I could catch to America was in three hours. I didn't have enough time to make it to Bucharest, and I didn't want to aimlessly travel any more. I had found what I was looking for, and like an idiot, I had given it up out of fear. But it wasn't the fear of Dracula sucking out all of my blood, but rather the fear that for the first time I actually discovered what I was looking for. I had spent so much time on the search that I never thought about what I would do when I found it. Mavis longed to see the world, and I could definitely help her with that one. The only continent I had yet to get to, was Asia, and that was only because I liked Europe so much.

I realized what pulled me out of my mind; I left my phone on shuffle and a song had started, _Good Directions_ by Billy Currington. The second verse in it specifically has a line in it that says, "You fool, this could have been love." It was right, but like the moron I am, I threw it away. _Maybe I could talk Dracula into erasing me memories_ , I thought, but quickly dismissed that idea. Mavis was too perfect for me, and no matter what he did to me, I'd never be able to forget her. It's kinda like what Shakespeare said; 'to thine own self be true'. That's rich, right? Me quoting Billy Shakespeare, but since I'm in my own _Romeo and Juliet_ here, then why not? I can't even guess what my parents would think, and as for Dracula, he'd never give me his 'Little Mouse'.

I checked again on my phone. Was there any way to be back to the States sooner than the next night? _Yeah_ , I thought, _leave now and catch a train north to Budapest._ Finishing packing my stuff, I thought for what I thought would be the last time if I was really doing the right thing. Not for me, but Mavis. I know what she wants, and that to travel the world, but what did I want? That's when it hit me. All I wanted was her. I was craving her company. Thinking back to what Wanda told me when she first figured out that I was human, and I had zinged with Mavis, I remembered the truth. You only zing once, but unlike YOLO, YOZO was true. I'd never get her out of my head, and neither would she. I'd be hurting her even more than I could ever possibly by staying if I left.

I had to know. Did she Zing with me? If she did, then damn Dracula. I was staying with Mavis.

As I built up my resolve, I heard a knock on the door, which almost made me piss my pants, especially after I heard Dracula's voice. This was it, I was a dead man. And what made me the most upset, was that I never really got to experience my first kiss with Mavis. She shocked me so much at her party, that I wasn't ready for it. And by the time I started to like it, Dracula was towering over me. If nothing else, I had to know her touch, her kiss. I'd gladly leave after that, but I had to try and make this right; if there was no doing that, then fine. But I have to try.


	2. Mavis Meets her Mom

Chapter 2

Mavis Meets Her Mom

(Mavis POV)

After I flew off the roof and back to my room and left my dad on the roof, all I could think about was that night. The night had been perfect; everything that Jonathan showed me was exactly what I wanted to see. But one thing still bothered me; why did he lie to me? I knew that it had to have been my dad's idea, but why? Why did dad force Johnny to lie to me? If dad was really that against us being together, then why wouldn't have he kicked Jonathan out of the hotel immediately? Was it possible that dad knew that we had zinged? Maybe?

The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. I loved everything about that night; from what he had showed me, to us dancing together, and culminating in our first kiss. The kiss was so special, so perfect. And yet something about it felt weird, but weird in a great way. I could see in his eyes that he felt the exact same way too. I was convinced that he had felt the zing too. He had to have. Nothing else could have explained his reaction.

But I still couldn't understand why Jonathan did what he did next. Why did he say he hated me? That he hated monsters? This couldn't be the Johnny I knew. Now yeah, I only met him four days ago, but still he was my zing. He had to be my zing. Didn't he?

I buried my face in my knees, the tears resuming their flow from my eyes, and that's when I heard the voice for the first time. "Don't lie to yourself, Mavis," it said. "You can lie to your father. You can lie to Jonathan. But you can't lie to yourself. You know what happened tonight."

"What!" I yelled in pure shock. I had never heard this voice before, but I knew it, even though I can't remember ever hearing it. I don't know if anyone else heard the voice, or it had just been in my head.

"To thine own self be true," the voice said. It was a woman's voice, and it sounded caring and compassionate.

I had heard this line before, but I didn't know where it was from.

"Shakespeare was a brilliant writer," the voice added. "He had written many dramas and tragedies, but even though many things can be based on his writings, that doesn't mean that they can't be different. _Romeo and Juliet_ can have a happy ending."

"What does that mean?" I asked, more out of fear than anything else. I was growing even more confused the more I heard the voice.

"He's your Romeo. Don't lie to yourself about it."

I asked again, "What does that mean?"

"You know exactly what it means, Mavis."

"Who… who are you?" I asked as I began to place all of the things she was telling me.

"Two lonely bats crashed in the night,

They felt a zing, love at first sight,

They knew right then that they would be husband and wife,

For a zing only happens once in your life."

The realization hit me like a tombstone. "Mom!" I cried. I had never had the chance to meet her, but I was certain of it. It was my mother.

"Yes, my sweet little Mavis."

"But you're gone. How?"

"I've never really been gone. Mavis, I've watched you for the last hundred years," the voice corrected herself, "the last 114 years. You've grown from that curious little girl that I left in the hands of your father into the beautiful young vampiress that you are now."

I saw her figure at that time. I wasn't sure if it was actually a ghost or something like that, or her image was just in my head. She was beautiful; slightly shorter than myself, but with gorgeous dark brown hair that stretched down to her waist. I saw her wearing a simply black dress and she also wore a choker around her neck, black accented by a pink jewel. I had never seen that choker before, but I absolutely loved the way it looked. "But it can't work," I pleaded. "Dad's right; we're just too different."

"Differences is what makes love so great," the voice added. "Mavis you need to trust yourself."

"Trust myself with what?"

"It can work if you both want it to.

"What does that mean?"

"You know exactly what it means, Mavis."

"Does that... No, it can't!" I yelled. I still didn't want to believe it.

"Yes it can, Mavis. You have to just trust it. You must believe that it can work. Your life is too long to go through it rejecting your zing. You only zing once after all."

"But what about dad?"

"That is why he has been faithful to me. He will always be so, until the day we meet again. And on that day, he will be rewarded for it."

"What does that mean?" I asked. Mom was getting way too deep for tonight after all that had happened.

"No. You'll learn soon enough, Mavis. At least, I hope so."

"But, how do we..."

"Your father will know, and he will tell you when the time is right."

"How?"

"If you remember the why, the how will take care of itself."

"But what's the 'why'?"

"You're kidding, right?" The voice asked with a chuckle.

Then I felt something that I had never felt before; I felt her touch. It almost made me shiver, but in a good way. Sure, it felt cold, but it felt comforting, personal, and loving. "But I don't know what to do."

"You will. Your father will tell you when the time is right."

"What about dad?"

"He know what needs to be done. Or should I say what will need to be done," the voice said. "And more importantly, just trust yourself, Mavis. His life is too short, and yours is too long to have never known your one true zing."

"But he's already gone. Dad and I… we drove him away."

"No you didn't."

"What?" I screamed again. Could she be saying what I was hoping that she was? Jonathan was still here.

"He's closer than you think. He will always be so. Go get him!"

"But I can't!" I pleaded. "The sun will be up soon."

"Maybe he's closer than you think."

I shook my head, "There's no way he's still here."

"Just tell yourself that Mavis, and he won't be much longer. Just know that your father will always do whatever it takes to make you happy."

I scoffed at her last comment. "With all the lying to me he's done, I don't know how he could."

"Every lie he ever told you was because he thought it was for the best for you. Even when he lied about Jonathan. Even though," but the voice didn't finish her thought.

"What?" I asked softly. I was losing the ability to be mad or confused, and began to place all of the pieces together.

"Humans aren't like they once were anymore, Mavis. At least, the vast majority of them aren't. Most of them will be friendly. Sure, there will be the exceptions to that rule. But let's just say there has been a lot of monsters and humans, who have done a lot of work to make us each seem less of a threat. Because most of us are. Most of us just want to be friends. But you just need to trust yourself, Mavis. Trust yourself, and Jonathan will come back to you."

With that, the vision left my head. I began to ponder what I had been told. Jonathan was still here. I smiled at that realization. But what was mom trying to tell me? What would 'need to be done'? Could it mean that Jonathan could be with me forever? Was it possible to make a human immortal? I didn't know; dad had all but forbidden me from even meeting a human before Jonathan came to the hotel. A part of me hoped that this was the case, but I wondered what I would have to do.

There was one other thing that she said that made me think. She had said that there was a lot of humans and monsters who had been working to make our love possible. Did that mean that most of the stories that dad told me were wrong? She had said that the majority of humans were friendly. I smiled as I remembered that. I never got to meet any before Jonathan. Well, except for that boy when I was much younger, but that had been an accident. (This is a reference to a sub-plot that will be explored in chapter 23 of my story _The New Vampires_ ) But we never really got to talk that much; just on the walk from the hotel to the edge of the forest. I thought back to the boy. He looked a little like Jonathan, but I do remember that he was kind of cute. I couldn't remember his name. I did wish that I could have seen him again, as he was really nice, but my dad forbade him from ever trying to find us again, and I don't think he ever did.


	3. I Really Screwed Up

**AN:** I know, its been a while. I got side tracked on other projects. Fell in love with _Twilight_ (I know, but I'm a big sucker) after happening to stumbling into brother's house while his wife was watching _Eclipse_. Just hooked by it. Ended up staying for the last half of the movie. Because of that I've ventured into that in the FF world too. The story is called Charlie's Choice and is set about 4 years after BD. Not to give too much away, but Charlie gets sick and only one thing can save him.

Back to this, I've had this one ready for a while, just never satisfied with it. This is the best I've felt about it since i had the draft done in early February.

* * *

Chapter 3  
I Really Screwed Up

(Dracula's POV)

They had zinged. That simple realization had almost destroyed me. My sweet little Mavis and the human, Jonathan had zinged and I tried to ruin it. I remembered what my late wife said to me after we zinged; that a zing wasn't something that happened by chance. If the two of them had zinged, then they were meant to be, but that still didn't make it any easier.

I had heard of monsters zinging with humans in the past, but it was rare. But my own little Devil Chops doing so, and at such a young age? I knew it. I should have suspected when Jonathan returned to the hotel after I tried to kick him out the first time. Mavis must have found him, and brought him back. I thought back to when I was with Jonathan telling him the truth about Martha's passing. He looked genuinely crushed, but he didn't look surprised. I tried to think what could explain his reaction?

That's when I remembered the dream I had the day before Jonathan arrived at the hotel. It seemed that the only dreams that I remembered were ones that involved Martha. Normally I would sleep like a dead man through the days, but it seemed that the only thing that could get into my subconscious to impress on me was her. In that particular dream, Martha had told me that someone was coming whom I needed to trust for the sake of Mavis. I figured it was a monster who would be attending Mavis's party, perhaps one of the older wolf pups. She had meant Jonathan. That was the only possibility.

Martha had been one of the first to propose that humans and monsters could be friendly with each other. Our kinds did not have to remain enemies. The introduction of blood surrogates had made this possible, but humans tend to fear that which is not like them. But I could tell that when Jonathan looked at Mavis, he saw a beautiful girl with whom he wanted to spend his whole life with.

I knew what this meant, but it was something I couldn't even tell Mavis about until they were ready to make the commitment to be husband and wife. The process to intentionally transform a human into a vampire was an extremely personal and intimate one, not to mention dangerous. Both the human and vampire share something with the other that is a part of their very being. While it was true that I had turned many humans into servant vampires, I had never attempted it in this manner, with the exception of one whom I thought was my zing before I realized that I was wrong.

* * *

Flashback, Transylvanian Highlands, 1672

I had been a vampire for almost an entire century. I hadn't aged much in the time since my father turned me. He had wanted servant vampires, so he had repeatedly bitten many of his most loyal followers. This was one of the two ways that a human could be turned, but it created slaves. Many of these former human's souls were corrupted by the lust for power, and therefore their transformations failed. They did turn into monsters, but not all the way into vampires. Rather they would be cursed to wander the world for eternity as large man-sized bats, incapable of ever mastering the true powers of vampirism.

My transformation was different. My father wanted a chief lieutenant, and so he turned me the personal way. He only bit me once, but then forced me to feed on his blood.

I still remembered that day. My own father had tied me to my bed, and showed me something about him that I had never known. He was a monster; I mean literally a monster. Yes, he was the infamous 'Vlad the Impaler', but that wasn't what I had meant. He had allowed this snake-like creature, the Lamia, to turn him into a vampire, and become the king of all monsters.

I screamed loudly as he leaned in to my neck and bit me. It was the most painful thing I had ever felt. My body felt like it was on fire, as the venom that his fangs produced began to course through my veins as he continued to drink my blood. I feared that he wouldn't stop until I was dead, and tried to plead with my own father to stop, but all I could do was whimper. I still couldn't believe that almost as soon as he bit me, he did stop. Then I felt something come over me as I tasted something extremely salty and sour touch my tongue, but at the same time it was delicious. I opened my eyes to see my father holding his left wrist to my mouth. I couldn't stop myself from drinking greedily until he eventually withdrew his wrist from my mouth after about a minute.

I lunged upward after that, feeling as if I would snap my spine in twain. I heard and felt things changing in my body. My teeth grew, which was excruciating. My eye sight improved to superhuman levels; I was able to focus on a small insect more than 40 feet away on a wall, and see it as if it were right in front of my face. I felt my muscles grow and strengthen. My ears also grew in to much more defined points.

The only thing I that I remember feeling for the next two days as the changes were taking place was indescribable pain. My entire body ached and burned, and I was aware of it all. I was unable to sleep because of it, and any sunlight striking my exposed skin caused it to burn. And while it healed almost instantly, it still hurt like the dickens.

For the next century, I fed on humans as instructed by my father. There was a time in my life, where all I wanted was his approval. A month after he bit me, he took me to a village not far from our home, and gave me one instruction; feed. Feed until my hearts content, which I did. Early in my vampiric life, I could not control myself and I did not stop drinking until it was too late. My father had turned me into a murderer. After a few years, I was finally able to stop myself from killing my victims. That was until that fateful night.

I still remember her. She had convinced me to give up the hunting of humans for sport. Her name was Tatyana, and she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. I still remember the first time I saw her; I had snuck into her bedroom, and lowered my mouth to her neck to drain her of her life sustaining blood, the divine liquid that coursed through her arteries that was the sustenance for vampires.

When my lips touched her neck, she shuttered then woke. When our eyes met, it was like magic; not a zing, but something very close to it. It sickened me that I nearly hurt this woman who had made quite an impression on me. I swore off human blood that night, but I couldn't stay away from her.

I returned to her every night just after sunset. I had found my own cave, and moved away from my father. I no longer wanted to associate with him, but finally one day he knew why I had left.

"You've found someone?" Vlad asked coldly, almost daring me to defy him.

"Yes!" I declared loudly and proudly.

"Monster or human?"

"What difference does that make?" I scoffed to him in reply. "I love her, and she loves me even after you cursed me with this!" I pointed at my body, with my voice showing the disgust I felt for what he had done to me.

"It matters, son," he replied. I never remembered a time before or since then that my father appeared to actually show genuine concern for my welfare or happiness. "If she is a monster, then that is acceptable, but if she is human, then how will you cope with her aging and her morality? And your needs?"

I knew what he meant. "I wouldn't wish this on anyone I cared about!" I snapped back. "Not even if we could be together for eternity!"

Another week passed, and finally she asked me about my nature. I don't know why I did, but I told her the truth. What shocked me was rather than panic or scream, she kissed me. It was our first kiss, and I loved it!

The next night, I decided to do it. I would bite her, and turn her into one of us. I wouldn't ask her permission, since I feared she would say no. This had an added advantage, as if she survived the transformation, she would have to be mine. It was extremely greedy of me, I know, but she would have to be loyal to me.

I saw her sleeping and I entered her room as quietly as possible. In the past, when I bit someone, I would savor it and allowed the smells of their flesh to intoxicate me. This time would be different. I acted quickly, and bit her. I drank her blood, and prepared to have her drink mine, but she never did. I held my right wrist to her mouth, but she never latched onto it. I never did figure out if I took too much blood or did something else wrong. I had killed my first crush. That night, I vowed to never again taste human blood, and never, ever again to try and transform someone.

* * *

I knew that their love would be dangerous, but I could not stop it. A true zing only happens once in one's life. Granted that Tatyana was not my zing, she was someone I cared about deeply.

"Sir, there's an emergency!" I heard a voice cry, which snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I replied, as I quickly shook my head to regain control of myself and my thoughts.

"Sir," the voice repeated as I realized who it was. It was my chief armor. "All of the guests are leaving!"

"What!" I snapped, but I knew the reason for this exodus. I had lied to all of them.

I turned into a bat and flew to the lobby, hoping to stop as many of my friends as possible. I was relieved to see that many of my best friends were still there, although they looked very pissed. "My friends, please stop," I begged them, which was all I could do.

The scene looked like a mob. The lobby was full of monsters, all of whom were attempting to check out. The spokesmonster for the group was Griffin, which was not a surprise. "You sneak a human into the hotel after telling us how bad they are, and now you expect us to stay?" The invisible man snapped at me. I completely deserved this, but still wasn't ready for it. I didn't know what to say. "What if he killed one of us? Rabies, what if he hurt Mavis?"

"He'd never hurt Mavis!" I snapped back. "Johnny wasn't a bad guy. You have to help me get him back. Please."

I noticed that one of Eunice's fingernails poked through the tape on her box that she was packed in, and began to open it. He right arm held up her head as she retorted, "First you tell us humans are bad, now they're good? What's next, cold is hot? Up is down? Gremlins don't smell?"

"Hey!" One of the gremlins snapped, although it elicited a gaggle of laughter from the crowd.

Frank popped his head out of his box, which sent one of the wolf pups flying who was sitting on top of it. "I really liked Johnny; cousin or no," he said through tears, that began to make his head spark. "He told fun stories!"

I had to admit the reason why Jonathan needed to return to the hotel, even though I didn't want to, "I think they zinged."

A collective gasp went up among all of my friends. Wayne and Wanda said almost in unison, "They zinged?!"

Frank was no longer able to hold back his tears, "You only zing once in your life." Sparks began flying from his head as more tears streamed from his eyes.

"Oh, great. Now you're short circuiting!" Eunice snapped.

"I don't care!" Frank retorted.

"What are we doing," Griffin said, "lets go get Johnny!" The entire group showed their approval, which helped me to regain my courage to do what I needed to do.

I asked one of the armors in the lobby if he knew where the human was.

"Yes sir," the suit replied. "He is still in his room; room 231.

"Perfect!" I whispered, but many of my friends could hear it. I returned to them, and asked them, "Please, he is still here. Let me speak to him first, and then I will bring him so you guys can properly meet a human." Many of my friends were smiling, as I hoped they also thought that this could mean the beginning of the end of the fear between our two races.

The idea came from Wayne. "Why don't we have a few drinks at the lounge, and you can bring him and Mavis there to meet us."

I smiled. "That's a great idea, Wayne."

"For once in your life," Wanda snapped just above a whisper, but giggled afterwards.

"Hey!" Wayne protested, but was stopped by Wanda giving him a kiss on his muzzle.

I went directly to Jonathan's room, as I was unsure of how much longer he would remain here. At a full sprint, it took me only half a minute to reach his door. I used the knocker, but was stopped by the shrunken head. "Oh, its you," the head protested. "Why did you stick me with this meatbag?"

"Quiet, just do your job," I answered. I knocked louder, and yelled," Jonathan, I need to talk to you."

"Go away!" I heard a voice from behind the door reply. "I don't want a lecture. I'll leave in ten minutes!"

The voice was in tears, and I could tell how deeply heartbroken that the bout was, which made me feel terrible. "No, Johnny! You can't leave; at least not yet."

I heard the door lock unlock, and saw the door open. I would have to explain everything to Jonathan, but I couldn't even mention the fact of how their love could work. I knew that they had zinged, and that was what I needed to get them to embrace for the time being. I entered the room, and took one last deep breath to gather my courage.


End file.
